Terrifying and Odd, New Indie Series ‘Long Lost’ Is a Page Turner

Writer: Matthew Erman / Artist: Lisa Sterle / Scout Comics What’s the first word to come to mind after reading the first issue of Long Lost? ‘Haunting’ would be a good answer. ‘Intriguing’, another. ‘Terrifying’ could work too. ‘Odd’ is likely waiting to be used as well. This issue opens to a memory of the past: two young girls running, sisters we find out, escaping something awful, something dark from a long time ago. A time skip reveals one of the sisters, Piper, as dreary, tired, someone who hasn’t been home in a very, very long time. Whatever has happened in her childhood has left her disconnected and very possibly estranged which sheds light on her overall disposition and avoidance of even phone calls from her sister. Erman paints a tale that makes you want to keep turning the page to see what happens next, slowly sinking you into the story.

Sterle’s art is a comfort with its black and white toned pages. Aesthetically, I’m loving the art. This look really picks at the nostalgia well in me and calls to mind comics in an anthology or even a zine, those comics you adored and read them till they were tattered copies. Her lines are clean, simple and get the job done. She can handle illustrating the cutest of four-legged creatures like dogs for example and not so cute things that might make you run for the hills. The absence of much color with the exception of a certain scene truly enhances the story, suggested something wicked this way comes. Something lurking, something ob…